Stephanie Flanders

This is Bloomberg Tech.

Companies, they're staying private for longer.

Valuations are hitting new highs.

The appetite to invest in private growth equity is expanding.

Just think about some of these names.

SpaceX, Databricks, Anduril.

Peter Singlehurst is head of private companies at Bailey Gifford, which is an investor in all three of those really hot, can we even call them startups anymore?

He joins us now.

Peter, Bailey Gifford's been out this long time, since 2012, allocating billions.

Is this sustainable?

This extent that companies are staying private for longer and will the wall of money still come in?

I think what we've seen is a structural change in how companies capitalize themselves.

This is driven by some very enduring factors, such as regulation.

Sarbanes-Oxley made it more difficult to be public, and aspects of the Jobs Act made it easier to stay private.

But I think there's also been a cultural change amongst companies.

I think founders today realize that you can build a better, more enduring business by staying private for longer.

Because you can be more focused on the fundamentals of business building.

And I think that has led to an irreversible change in companies staying private for longer.

And as a result, we're seeing exceptional world-class businesses of real scale in the private markets.

And now 2026 could be quite the unlock.